03 - GET.invest - Writer's Guide_August 2025.docx

GET.invest Writer’s Guide

Last update: August 2025

This style guide has been written to help authors, both in-house and consultants, producing documents for GET.invest. It has been designed to establish a convention for style and grammar, using the European Commission’s English Style Guide (last updated: February 2025) as a next authority in case of any uncertainties not covered by this document.

Applying this guide ensures GET.invest’s documents are professional and clear, helping us build trust with donors, partners and clients. Research shows that consistent style boosts credibility and enhances comprehension, making our messages stick. It strengthens our brand, with studies linking uniformity to 80% better recognition, vital for a programme like ours. In addition, it streamlines collaboration, cutting revision time, so our work stands out for all the right reasons.

The default language should be British English (e.g. programme instead of program; -ise and -yse endings instead of -ize and -yze). As an aid, you can use a spellchecker set to UK English. Remember, though, to use your judgment and check a dictionary in case of doubt.

In-house jargon is not appropriate in documents addressing the general public, such as fact files. Information of practical use, e.g. applying to a GET.invest service, must be immediately understandable even to those unfamiliar with the workings and vocabulary of the programme. This means, for instance, keeping paragraphs and sentences (average length of 15-20 words) short, and using simple syntax and highlighting devices such as bullet points.

Contents

1 Names, abbreviations and acronyms 2

2 Numbers and symbols 3

2.1 Numbers 3

2.2 Symbols 4

3 Date and time 4

3.1 Date 4

3.2 Time 5

4 Spelling 5

4.1 Writing conventions 5

4.2 Capitalisation (sentence case and title case) 6

5 Punctuation 6

5.1 Colon 6

5.2 Hyphens and dashes 6

5.3 Slash 7

5.4 Commas 7

6 Lists (bulleted or numbered) 7

7 Citations, footnotes and references 8

8 Inclusive language 9

8.1 Gender 9

Names, abbreviations and acronyms

GET.invest is not an acronym, but it is always written with GET in capital letters and a lowercase i. No definite article is needed in front of the following:

• GET.invest, GET.transform, GET.pro
• GIZ
• EDGE Finance

Use the definite article in front of the following:

• The GET.invest Finance Catalyst
• The GET.invest Finance Readiness Support
• The European Union, the EU
• The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) when introducing the acronym

Make sure a term is introduced at first use followed by the abbreviation in brackets. Numbers are generally included in acronyms without a space.

• Electric vehicles (EVs)
• Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7)
• 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29)

However, consider in each case whether the term is repeated enough times to be worth asking the reader to learn a new abbreviation. These should be re-introduced in separate chapters or multi-chapter publications and in separate documents of multi-document packages (e.g. Market Insights). If a document contains many abbreviations, consider including a list of them and their meanings at the beginning of the document.

Numbers and symbols

Numbers

When deciding whether to write numbers in words or figures, the first consideration should be consistency within a passage. Where statistics are being compared in running text, use figures. In non-statistical documents, write the numbers nine and below in words (except in a range such as 9-11); all others are to be written as numerals (i.e. 10 and above).

The English way of writing numbers differs from the German one. Please always pay attention to it, in particular when communicating about the ticket size of our clients.

• German 9.000 translates into English 9,000
• German 9,34 translates into English 9.34

Thousands are separated by a comma (15,000), particularly in stand-alone graphics and infographics, promotional publications, press releases and audiovisual products, and when writing for the website.

Billion is used to designate a thousand million (and not a million million) and trillion a million million. Note that the words million, billion and trillion can also be combined with figures: 3,000 million. The letter m right after the figure without a space can be used to avoid frequent repetition of million, particularly in tables or other instances where space is limited. The same applies to the letter k which can be used to designate thousand.

Symbols

The per cent sign (%) sits directly next to the figure, which should always be written as a numeral.

• 9%

Be sure that chemical formulas use subscript numbers and that these are retained in the final layout.

• Carbon dioxide = CO2

For the currency euro, use the symbol € followed by the amount in numerals without a space.

• €20

Given that GET.invest is a European programme, and so that we can compare numbers across different communication products, it is preferable to indicate values in euros. If the amount in this currency is not provided and needs to be converted, you may use the European Commission’s official tool: Exchange rate (InforEuro).

Write gram, kilogram (not gramme, kilogramme). However, use tonne not ton (which refers to the non-metric measure). Symbols used to replace units derived from common nouns are to be written in lower case: g (gram), k (kilogram), etc., and are separated from preceding figures by a space.

Write metre for the unit of length, and meter for the measuring instrument. When it comes to electric power, kilowatt (kW) and megawatt (MW) are used for generating capacity, kWh and MWh for output over a given period.

Date and time

Date

Dates in running text should always be written in their full form. Write out the month, preceded by a single figure for the day. If the year in question is clear from the context, the year number may be left out.

• On 9 October 2024, GET.invest launched its new service EDGE Finance […] which was followed by a dedicated workshop with interested financial institutions on 7 November […]

A range of dates is written with a hyphen or as part of a complete phrase using words like from and to.

• 23-25 July 2016
• From 23 to 25 July, not from 23-25 July or between 23-25 July

Use all four digits when referring to a year.

• 2005–2008, not 2005–08

Time

The 24-hour clock is preferred. Use leading zeros and a colon.

• 08:30, not 8:30 am
• 20:30, not 8:30 pm

For duration use h:

• The time allocated to the visits is 3 h.

To avoid confusion, particularly when speaking about events taking place outside of Europe, it may be relevant to add the respective time zone (e.g. WAT for Nigeria, EAT for Kenya, and so on). In Europe, pay attention to the change during the summer time, e.g. Central European Summer Time (CEST).

Spelling

Writing conventions

Avoid writing the shortened form of verbs: do not instead of don’t, have not and not haven’t.

When referring to a company or organisation, use ‘it’ rather than ‘they’ to maintain clarity and align with standard British English practice. For example, “GET.invest launched its new service,” not “GET.invest launched their new service.” Whilst ‘they’ is increasingly common in informal contexts or American English, reserve it for plural entities (e.g., “The companies adjusted their strategies”). Consistency is the most important – avoid switching between ‘it’ and ‘they’ within the same document.

If a compound word is used as an adverb or adjective before a noun, it is then hyphenated:

• High-level event, large-scale contribution, long-term change
• Acting at a high level, on a large scale, in the long term

Other conventions:

• Enterprise, not entreprise (which is the French form)
• Panellist, not panelist. Follow the convention of doubling the final -l after a short vowel on adding -ing or -ed to verbs and adding -er to make nouns from verbs (travel, travelling, travelled, travelled)
• ‘State’ is generally written using lower case, e.g. nation states, except in ‘Member States’ when referring to the EU Member States
• sub-Saharan, not Sub-Saharan
• the Netherlands, not The Netherlands
• Mr, not Mr.
• e-mobility, not E-mobility or emobility
• Matchmaking (in one word), not match-making or match making
• Advisor is lowercase and spelled with an o (not Adviser), unless in the context of a person’s work title: “the Finance Catalyst advisors”, but “Senior Advisor John Smith”
• Market Insights (always capitalised) is written in plural when describing multiple packages or the full series. A single package, e.g. for Uganda, is a Market Insight package
• ‘PAYGo’ with a small ‘o’, and not PAYGO, as an abbreviation for ‘pay-as-you-go’

Capitalisation (sentence case and title case)

Long titles and subtitles, and all headings and subheadings within a document may take a capital only on the first word, on any proper nouns and on any adjectives formed from proper nouns. This is called sentence case, a capitalisation style that mainly uses small letters.

• Economic and budgetary outlook for the European Union 2025
• The landscape of rural electrification in sub-Saharan Africa

Should you wish to use title case for your document instead, please have a look at the APA Title Case rules for a more comprehensive set of guidelines.

Punctuation

Colon

After a colon, continue the sentence with a small letter (e.g. “That is the secret of her success: always do the unexpected”). However, if the colon introduces a quotation which starts with a capital letter/new sentence, continue with a capital letter (e.g. “The project manager said: ‘MS Project is a great tool’”).

Hyphens and dashes

Along with the hyphen (-), GET.invest writing uses the en dash ( – ) but not the em dash ( — ).

The hyphen is primarily used to connect compound words. When compounds come to be used more frequently, there is a tendency to develop into single words. As a general rule, the form used on the Oxford Learner's Dictionaries should be followed.

A spaced en dash is used to set apart an aside or unique idea – like this – from the main clause. A spaced en dash is automatically created in Word when typing a word followed by a space, hyphen, and another space (this - this will convert to this – this). Spaced en dashes are easy to over-use, so try not to use them more than once per paragraph.

Hyphens may be used to join related or contrasting pairs, or to replace ‘to’ in a range:

• July-September 2024
• Public-private partnership
• Benefit-cost ratio

Slash

Never use a backlash ( \ ) in place of a forward slash, which is used to give alternatives as in ‘yes/no/maybe’. It is closed up when separating single words, but is written with a space either side when one or more of the alternatives is a compound term:

• Brussels/Bonn
• Finance Catalyst / Finance Readiness Support

Commas

In a list of three or more items, a comma is used to separate them, except for the final two which are separated by ‘and’ or ‘or’. However, an additional comma before the final item is sometimes essential to help clarify the sense:

• GET.invest is co-funded by the European Union, Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria.
• The GET.invest Finance Catalyst connects investors, companies, and project developers.

Lists (bulleted or numbered)

Lists of short items (without main verbs) should be introduced by a full sentence and have the following features:

• introductory colon
• no initial capitals
• no punctuation (very short items) or comma after each item
• a full stop at the end.

Where each item completes the introductory phrase, you should:

• begin with the introductory colon;
• label each item with the appropriate bullet, number or letter;
• end each item with a semicolon;
• close with a full stop.

If all items are complete statements without a grammatical link to the introductory phrase, proceed as follows:

• introduce the list with a colon;
• label each item with the appropriate bullet, number or letter;
• start each item with a lower-case letter;
• end each one with a semicolon;
• put a full stop at the end.

If any one item consists of several complete sentences, announce the list with a main sentence and continue as indicated below.

1. Do not introduce the list with a colon.
2. Label each item with the appropriate bullet, number or letter.
3. Begin each item with a capital letter.
4. End each statement with a full stop. This allows several sentences to be included under a single item without throwing punctuation into confusion.

Citations, footnotes and references

When directly quoting a piece of text or citing the title of a document, you should reproduce the original rather than following the conventions set out below; that is, use the English titles of publications where an official English version exists but do not translate titles of works that have appeared only in a foreign language.

• The findings in Renewable Energy Market Analysis: Africa demonstrate the potential for solar investment in GET.invest target regions.
• The study Erneuerbare Energien in Entwicklungsländern [Renewable Energies in Developing Countries] offers insights into decentralised energy systems

Make it clear you are quoting text by using double quotation marks (“…”) and use single quotation marks (‘…’) for a quotation enclosed inside another one. Put titles of publications in italics. The simultaneous use of italics and quotation marks should be avoided.

Short quotes of up to four lines are normally integrated into the surrounding text. Extended (block) quotations should be indented and separated from the surrounding text by paragraph spacing before and after. No quotation marks are required with this kind of layout.

• Quotation marks in English look like “this”, not like „this”

Begin footnotes with a capital letter (exceptions being URLs and email addresses, ‘e.g.’, ‘i.e,’ and ‘p.’) and always end them with a full stop. If a footnote applies to one word, it goes directly after the word. There is no space between the punctuation/word and the footnote.

Bibliographic references depend on the kind of resource referred to and where they are used – in a bibliography, in a footnote or in the text. However, they always follow the same style (punctuation, formatting, etc.), regardless of the place of the reference. For more instructions, please follow this link: https://style-guide.europa.eu/en/content/-/isg/topic?identifier=5.9.4-bibliographic-references

Inclusive language

This guide concerns the drafting and editing of text for publication. Whilst the following are general recommendations, please be aware that this is an evolving and sensitive area of language.

Person-first language, which emphasises the person rather than their circumstances, is generally preferred. Avoid collective nouns such as ‘the poor’. Use neutral expressions instead of negative or passive phrases; for example, use ‘person with a disability’ instead of ‘person suffering from a disability’ or ‘the disabled’.

In format such as the GET.invest stories, we try avoiding language such as “GET.invest helped the company secure funding” to focus more on working together as peers. This is a general approach across all our channels and materials; therefore, we ‘assist’ and ‘support’, and use ‘help’ only when there is no better expression.

Gender

Gender-neutral language is preferred wherever possible. Avoid word choices which may be interpreted as implying that one gender is the norm, including:

• nouns such as ‘chairman’ that appear to assume that a role is habitually performed by a person of a particular gender;
• words such as ‘man-made’, ‘manpower’ or ‘mankind’ that contain ‘man’ to mean people of all genders; or
• gender-specific pronouns for people whose gender is not specified. If you know the gender of the person concerned, use the appropriate pronoun. Otherwise, depending on the circumstances, consider using the general singular ‘they’ to refer to a person whose gender is not known.

When writing about GET.invest’s work, emphasise systematic gender integration rather than treating gender as a separate initiative. To reflect our comprehensive approach to gender mainstreaming, you may use terms like:

• gender-responsive business models
• gender-inclusive value chains
• gender impact opportunities

When communicating about our gender impact it is important to avoid tokenism – doing something only to show that you are including people from minority groups, but not in a way that is sincere.

1. Focus on systemic integration rather than isolated examples. For example, “the company integrated gender considerations across its customer segmentation, product design and distribution strategy, resulting in a 40% increase in women customers and 25% revenue growth”, not “the company hired three women and now serves female customers”.
2. Emphasise business outcomes alongside social impact. For example, “by developing gender-responsive payment schemes, the mini-grid operator expanded its customer base by 35% whilst improving energy access for 2,000 women entrepreneurs”, not “the project helped women” without specific, measurable outcomes.
3. Use active rather than passive language for women’s roles. Write “women entrepreneurs identified new market opportunities that increased company revenues” and avoid formulations such as “women benefited from the project” or “women were helped by the intervention”.
4. Present gender data as integral to business performance. Write “gender-disaggregated customer data revealed untapped market segments, enabling the company to increase market penetration by 30%”, and avoid presenting gender statistics in isolation from business metrics.

Finally, appropriate language must be used to discuss challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.

1. Frame challenges as market inefficiencies rather than women’s deficits. For example, “limited access to business networks creates market gaps that innovative financing models can address”, and not “women lack business skills” or similar deficit-based language.
2. Use solution-oriented language. For example, write “GET.invest supported the development of group liability models that reduced collateral requirements, enabling broader access to finance”, not “women cannot access finance” without connecting to solutions.
3. Use active rather than passive language for women’s roles. Write “regulatory frameworks that require physical collateral can limit access to finance for entrepreneurs with different asset portfolios”, thus avoiding language that suggests inherent limitations rather than structural barriers.
4. Emphasise agency and capability. Write “women entrepreneurs demonstrated strong repayment rates and business growth when provided with appropriate financing instruments”, and do not use paternalistic language that suggests women need ‘help’ rather than appropriate market conditions.